Sports
Peoria Rivermen tie series with win in Game 2
PEORIA Alec Hagaman looked as much like a Viking raider as he did a Peoria Rivermen captain, with a flaming red beard on a face reddened from a fight for their playoff lives Saturday.
Hagaman became the third player in the SPHL era of the Rivermen franchise to score a playoff hat trick, willingly and persistently, leading his team to a 6-4 conquest of the Huntsville Havoc in Game 2 of the President's Cup Finals before 5,581 at Carver Arena.
Alec Baer had a goal and four assists, including the game winner, and set the SPHL record for most assists in a postseason (now 14), surpassing the 13 set by Knoxville's Kevin Swider in 2008. Peoria defenseman Zach Wilkie had a goal, and rookie Mathew Rehding scored the first goal of the game to tie the best-of-3 series.
'Frustrating':Peoria Rivermen open SPHL Championship with road loss vs. Huntsville
“That was an absolute battle, two great teams of warriors going against each other,” Hagaman said. “There were so many highs and lows in this match, our emotions were all over the place.
“But these two teams going to one last game is the way the season should end.”
The Rivermen faced elimination on Saturday. Now Huntsville and the Rivermen will both be eliminated in a winner-take-all title Game 3 on Sunday at 5:15 PM at Carver Arena.
Tickets went on sale immediately late Saturday evening, via a online link set up by the Rivermen.
The Rivermen face a battle on two fronts on Sunday, Huntsville on one side and SPHL history on the other. The SPHL has had seven championship series in a best-of-3 format, and no team has ever lost Game 1 and come back to win the series.
“When your big players come to play, you win,” Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. “Alec Hagaman was an absolute beast. Alec Baer was great again, has been all through the playoffs. Mitch McPherson worked all day at work, came to the rink, played in a postseason game that you have to win and it was phenomenal.”
Lots of crowd and a fast start
Carver Arena rattled like a sold-out crowd, a hyped-up crowd of nearly 6,000 standing in pieces, chanting the team's name, waving and coming armed with good-luck signs.
The Rivermen erupted them at 4:32 of the opening faceoff when Rehding's shot from the left circle soared past goaltender Mike Robinson's left path and into the far post.
Boxscore President's Cup Final Game 2:Rivermen 6, Huntsville 4
The Rivermen swarmed the Huntsville zone for a stretch of seven minutes into the 15-minute mark, producing nine unanswered shots and scoring twice to put Huntsville on the ropes and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Baer's smooth bank pass off the sideboards from his defensive zone set up Hagaman for a breakaway, and he buried it around Robinson's left pad for 2-0 at 1:30.
“I couldn't even see Alec, there were bodies in front of me,” Baer said, grinning. “I just put it off the wall hoping he would find it. I thought, 'If it's only going to work once all season, let this be the only time.' “
66 seconds later, Wilkie pushed the lead to 3-0 when his wrister from the left point weaved through traffic and between Robinson's pads.
Huntsville earned a power play in the final minute, and right wing Eric Henderson's deflection from above the crease went off Rivermen goaltender Nick Latinovich with 3.5 seconds left in the period.
It was a big goal for Huntsville psychologically. The Rivermen arguably could have scored five goals in this period, with Robinson being beaten twice only to have the puck deflected away or inadvertently blocked by a Peoria player from going into the net.
“I think that penalty at the end of the first period hurt us,” Trudel said. “Then we had to kill two quick penalties and lost some momentum. We played a great first period. But in that second period we took our foot off the gas.”
Hagaman strikes early
Hagaman made it 4-1 just 58 seconds into that second period when he cut through the high gap, then moved to the inside edge of the right circle and fired the puck into the top left corner. But the Rivermen pulled away and Huntsville went on a 9-3 shooting run in the middle third of the period, scoring twice to pull within 4-3.
Former Rivermen center Jack Jaunich skated through the slot to beat Latinovich and cut Peoria's lead to 4-2 at 11:36 of the second.
Huntsville continued to pressure the Rivermen zone, cutting Peoria's lead to 4-3 at the 14:16 mark when the puck flew into the air in front of the door and bounced down off Havoc's Cole Reginato or a Peoria defenseman.
The mighty siege of Game 2
“We knew they were going to come back at us,” Baer said. “I think their best asset is that they are a team that puts in every second of a 60-minute match. You can't stop against them.”
It was Baer who helped the Rivermen rally for a 5-3 lead at 1:46 of the third period, when he stayed clear of coverage near the left circle boards and pumped a drive on the other side and in through the right post.
But between that game winner and the final horn, there was another response from Huntsville.
The Havoc answered at 4:38 when Reginato's shot trickled in off Latinovich to close within 5-4.
After the play, Hagaman hit a Huntsville player behind the net and was boxed for roughing, giving Huntsville a power play.
The Rivermen erased it to maintain their lead.
Then Huntsville's ultimate demise became self-inflicted. Key defender Brett Humberstone raced to the left boards and delivered an elbow to the head/neck area of Rivermen winger Braydon Barker, a dangerous move.
With 4:17 to go, he was assessed a five-minute major penalty for interference. It is unknown if the league will review it for a possible suspension.
Rivermen center J.M. Piotrowski was boxed for interference less than two minutes later, setting up a four-on-four stretch in which Huntsville pulled Robinson for an extra attacker to go five-on-four.
Hagaman interrupted a pass at the Peoria blueline, took a slow backhand shot across the ice and headed it into the middle of the net for 6-4 with 81 seconds left.
“What am I thinking now?” Trudel said, answering a question. “This game is over. I'm thinking about the first period on Sunday.”
River lectures
Rivermen playoff scoring leader and skilled center Alec Baer had three assists in the opening period and yielded a highlight hit. He leads the SPHL playoffs with 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists) in six games. The total number of assists is an SPHL postseason record. He is also one point shy of tying Knoxville by Kevin Swider playoff points record of 18, set in 2008. The Rivermen are 27-1-3 this season at Carver Arena, where they have won 16 in a row. It is the best home ice record in professional hockey. … Carver Arena was humid and the protective glass was fogged up during pre-game. The Rivermen scratched veteran winger Cayden Cahill and place it in the middle Dante Zapata. Peoria Defender Nick Aromatario was also a scratch. SPHL Commissioner Doug Price was present, with the President's Cup. Former Rivermen defenseman Brandon Greenside was present at the match. Peoria Councilman Dennis Cyr the IHL Playoff MVP for the Rivermen in their 1984-85 title was in attendance, as was the former Rivermen team president John Butler.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist covering Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the sports column Cleve In The Eve for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
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